- I will monitor and carefully observe Anthony Davis to see if he will improve his defensive work as far as alertness and proper reactions and proper reads/rotations… place this in the “he better” file
- Will Withey display the required footwork in defending vs pick and rolls? Is he a true shot blocker or a player where the ball must come to him to secure blocks? Can he “go get the block?”
- Proper guard combinations are essential as Gordon, Holiday, and Evans love to have the ball in their mitts. I would sit down with Tyreke Evans and show him the role and value Ginobili played for the Spurs. It’s not who starts the game, but whose on the floor in crucial moments. Will he see the floor better and quickly read what evolves?
- Aminu better return with a more decisive approach to his offense game. He’s terrific in the open floor and moments of chaos when the game quickly changes ends of the floor… I’m not yet sold about running plays and reading and reacting to the moment when you run a set play
- Team defense was soft last season… late rotations, improper reactions to closeouts, and proper coverages were unacceptable…
- Pelicans need more “act as if” performances… act as if you know what you’re doing and that you’ve learned from last season
- Summer League play is a fun distraction… let’s see who can handle the daily grind of NBA practices and the grind of “winning minutes”
- The box score does not cover the “unseen stats:” shots altered, tap outs that led to resets, setting a solid screen, the number of smart defensive rotations, deflections, lane pressures… and several more
- Judge players on their performance under pressure
- The Dark Side of Competitiveness is insecurity, desperation, and vindictiveness
- Sometimes the game is more about Art than Science
- Never replace the trained eye with a mathematical formula… talent is talent… The key is seeing the talent and how to combine it with other talent
- You are paid to get better… Players will do what is demanded of them
- Players want honesty, but don’t always want to hear the truth
- Funny how ex-players can’t explain the game
Gerry V is a 21-year NBA analyst, 17-year talk radio host, a 16-year coach, and current anchor for “Fox 8 New Orleans Morning Edition”, 5 a.m. – 9 a.m. and “Fox 8 News at Noon.” Follow Gerry V on twitter (@GVTalk).
16 responses to “Weakside Eyes: Summer Reading”
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Alright. I don’t want to be a prick. But I don’t like your stuff on nola.com and I don’t like it here. This isn’t an article. Nothing flows. There are no paragraphs. It’s a poor attempt at brainstorming for an upcoming assignment that you decided not to complete.
Arabi Sorry, have to disagree, Mr. V gives better insight than most observers of the game, IMO. Of course, his background is much more than just being an observer, which is more than most of us can say. We should be thanking the coach for taking his time to share his thoughts and insights with us about our local basketball team, not demeaning him on his paragraph structure. It’s the content of what he says that’s important, not how he says it.
Thank you, Mr. V, for sharing with us. Our enjoyment of our teams performance next year will be better for it.
RobertWelchArabi The box score does not cover the “unseen stats:” shots altered, tap
outs that led to resets, setting a solid screen, the number of smart
defensive rotations, deflections, lane pressures… and several moreJudge players on their performance under pressureThe Dark Side of Competitiveness is insecurity, desperation, and vindictivenessSometimes the game is more about Art than ScienceNever replace the trained eye with a mathematical formula… talent is
talent… The key is seeing the talent and how to combine it with other
talentYou are paid to get better… Players will do what is demanded of themPlayers want honesty, but don’t always want to hear the truthFunny how ex-players can’t explain the game
What local basketball team content is there in a list of basketball generalizations? Oh he did mention how the players need to improved individually and as a team. Yeah, cool story bro.
Arabi Read the title…”Summer Reading”…I take this particular article as a ‘food for thought’ type list. It’s summertime, nobody is on the court…and if you haven’t noticed, not much going on around here either. We are all waiting for some news, like Odin’s decision, something, anything. If there was something happening, I’m sure Coach V would make his comments directed to specifics of team topics with less ‘generalizations’. He’s done so plenty in his other posts, but right now there isn’t much to say that hasn’t been hashed out already ad nauseam. It’s vacation time. Lighten up.
can you explain the “dark side of competitiveness?” do you know what it means? in the off season coaches like to brainstorm…share topic ideas for clinics and presentations…..the topic are there for the reader to discusss and see if they can arrive at their own meaning….somemtimes you have to have a mental workout…try it…….how many can you explain?
Summer reading ( and there will be several more) are items for conversation…or lines to use when talking about the game…i have tons of stuff from all the years in the game…..keeps the brain alive during the off season….
Arabi Oh man I think you are missing the ole pointeroo
mateor Arabi Which is? Chicken Soup for the Basketball Soul?
Arabi: its not meant to be an article…I’m sharing notes and observations,mental reminders from my coaching days/journals and from 21 yrs as an NBA Analyst…..i have many journals of mental reminders..basketball notes…..SUMMER READING…some thoughts for the fan to ponder during the summer months to tickle the brain cells…conversation food……sorry your in a bad mood…maybe some fiber would help?…xo from V
Arabi Yes, it is football season, and I hope we do enjoy it this year (being a Saints fan, that is).
As for EG, that will only be true if he stays on the court, let’s hope he does. If so, as you point out, he can be a great player. I’m sure Dell & Monty know that, and is why they have been so patient with him.
On a more substantive note, regarding Evans possibly playing a Ginobli-type 6th man role, am I the only Pelicans fan who believes it’s just a matter of time before Eric Gordon is gone in exchange for a legitimate starting center and Tyreke is the starting shooting guard?
Come On Pelican you are not off base with that thinking,but for the time being we have to discuss the situation as it sits for now……Evans as a starter can happen eventually…..we are now in a ‘lets let it all evolve mode”
What is said about a player in August may not hold up in November….
It begins.
http://www.nba.com/pelicans/uniform-unveil
It shows something about our fan base when you are bashing the man with the highest basketball IQ on the site we all love. If you are an idiot please keep the proof off the Internet. One bad grape can ruin the wine. Thanks Arabi! I see how dumb you are so just to let you know you’re the idiot I speak of above. Thanks again.